Dimension 17
by Goddess of Idun
Summary: FINISHED! Kurt disappears in a purple light and ends up in another dimension, where he's forced to fight the Vodash. Xavier, Kitty, Jean, Rogue, Scott and Logan come to the rescue... slight Kurtty. Rated for swearing and violence. R&R, please!
1. Purple sparks

Dimension 17

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution. However, I do own Dimension 17.

This is my first fan fic ever, I don't know if I'm a good writer, so please review and tell me how I'm doing. This is set between the first and the second season, so there's nothing of the 'new mutants'. Also, I want to warn you for my terrible grammar. Got pretty good English grades in school, but when I really have to practise it my brain refuses to cooperate with me. I won't use Rogue's accent, 'cause in the Swedish version of the show, she does not have one, which makes it pretty difficult for me to write one. Kurt, on the other hand, has, so I'll give him one.

_**Thoughts**_

**Telepathy**

Read and enjoy! 

**Chapter one: Purple sparks**

Kurt was on his way home from the nearby Burger King. He had had dinner with Scott and Evan, since Kitty was the Institute's chef for the night. Her cooking had a bad reputation. Anyway, Kurt's two friends had finished their meal long before Kurt had, and since he didn't wanted to keep them waiting, they'd left about 20 minutes ago. The elf didn't mind walking home alone, though. It was a beautiful evening with an amazing sunset over the sea.

Kurt had reached the Institute and pressed his thumb against the reader (AN: you know, like in 'Mindbender' when Jean unlocks the gates by pressing her thumb against that strange lock thing?). The computer voice could be heard: "Identity confirmed. Welcome, Nightcrawler. Security systems disabled." The gate opened and Kurt was on his way through when suddenly a strange sort of purple light surrounded him. He panicked and tried to run, but it was as if the light had turned his legs to stone.

"Vhat? Vhat's going on? Help me!" **_Vait a sec, the professor's a telepath._** **Professor! PROFESSOR! I need help!  
**  
Meanwhile, the professor, Storm, Logan and the other students were inside, each with a slight feeling of sickness. (Yes, Scott and Evan had been forced to eat at least a bit of Kitty's food. She was pretty sulky with them for trying to sneak away.) Anyway, suddenly, professor "heard" Kurt calling for help.

"Ouch! Kurt! Don't scream!" he said loud. Then: **Take it easy, calm down. Where are you? What's happening?**

**Ze gates! Purple light! Help me! It vill -** He became silent.

**Kurt? Kurt! I can not hear you! Keep thinking!** There was no answer. Xavier turned to Rogue, who sat near the window. "Rogue? Would you like to take a look outside? I think Kurt's at the gates, but I can not be sure."

Rogue got up from her chair and looked out of the window. "I can't see Kurt, but there are weird purple sparks on this side of the gates."

"There are?" Xavier rolled his wheelchair to the window. Rogue was right, purple sparks were flying around outside. "Students, I want you to go out and call for Kurt. He called for me just a moment ago, and I want to know what happened to him." The students immediately raised and got out of the house.

_

* * *

_

_**Vhat happened? Vhy am I bleeding? VHERE am I bleeding? Oh, ze forehead. Vell, it could have been vorse. It could have been blood from my, lets see, my stomach, and zhat vould be vorse, right? Vhy is it so cold? Vhere am I? Maybe I should open my eyes. Okay... zis is frightening.  
**_  
Kurt opened his eyes and found himself lying on a narrow cliff, covered with snow. The cliff was just a very small part of a mountain, it seemed to be at least 1000 meters to the ground. The whole valley below him was also covered in snow. Because of the small cut in his forehead, some of the snow directly under him was red. He could see no way to leave the cliff, neither upwards nor downwards.

**_Oh brozzer_.**_** I'm hurt and stuck on a cliff vhich I can fall down from any minute. Great. Vonder if zis has happened to Evan and Scott? Should I call for zem? Nah, I may bring down an avalanche if I scream. Speaking ov an avalanche – could zis be ze Brotherhood's vork?**  
_  
He thought about that for a minute but then pushed the thought away. It couldn't be them, they couldn't have done this at least without help. Mystique was gone and, as far as he knew, the Brotherhoods' only leader for moment was the living earthquake. But if it wasn't them, who could have done this... thing... to him?

* * *

"Kurt!"

"KURT!"

"C'mon, you fuzzy elf, like, where are you?

"Nightcrawler!"

"Kurt! Ku-urt!"

"Blue boy? Is that you, in the bushes? YIKES! Don't scare me like that, bloody squirrel!"

"Where the hell is he?"

"Fuzzy!"

"I have no idea."

"If this is one of his stupid pranks I will –"

**Students! Get inside! There's something I want to show you.**

The x-men looked at each other, confused. Then, they shrugged and got inside. They found the professor in his office beside one of the big computer screens.

"Like, what's going on, professor?"

"Well, Kitty, I watched the latest pictures from the security camera closest to the gate. Look."

The students watched, stunned, as the screen showed what happened at the gate ten minutes ago. They could see Kurt walking through the gate as the purple light surrounded him. They could see his desperate, but useless, attempts to flee. Then, the light became so strong that they couldn't see him anymore. When at last the light turned into sparks, he was gone. Everyone – except for the professor, who'd seen it before – gasped.

"What was that?"

"What, like, happened to him?"

"Where is he?"

"What was that light?"

"Students! Calm down, please. I don't know yet what's happened to Kurt. I will search for him using Cerebro. Just try to take it easy, nothing will be better by just running around asking questions which I cannot answer. I can not answer them yet, but, with a bit of luck, maybe we will be able to find him."

That didn't seem to calm down the students a bit.

"What do you mean, MAYBE we'll find him!" Scott shouted, angrily.

"You mean that we won't see him anymore?" Jean gasped.

"Never, EVER!" Rogue screamed.

"He can't just disappear! Fuzzy wouldn't accept that! WE can't accept that!" Evan shouted.

The only one that remained silent was Kitty. _**Now I understand all these people who say that you don't know how important something is to you until you lose it,**_ she thought. And without a word, she turned around and phased through the wall and into her room. She lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. _**You won't disappear, will you, Fuzzy? Of course you won't. I know you. You would never let that happen. You will come back. I know that. I know that...**_ And she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Yeah, I know, it was short. Next will be longer, I promise. And a lot of Kurt!

What did you think? Was it good or terrible? Please review!

Idun


	2. Up or down?

**_Thoughts _**

**Telepathy**_  
_  
**Chapter 2: Up or down?**  
  
Kurt leaned out over the steep slope._ **Zis really is deep. Could I 'port down?**_ he thought. He looked up. It seemed to be a longer way to the ground than to the top.**_Or up? I can at least SEE ze ground, but maybe it's easier to 'port to ze top... Oh my. Zis is harder zan I zought._**

* * *

"Anything, Charles?", said Ororo, coming into the Cerebro room. The professor sat in his wheelchair with his helmet on.

"Not yet, Ororo. I've searched half of the USA, but no sign of him."

"That light when he disappeared... Maybe he isn't in this... world...?"

"Could you please explain that a little further?"

"Well, you don't think it's a little bit – unnatural – to just disappear in some kind of lilac sparks? I was thinking, and maybe Kurt got... sucked into another dimension or something. I mean, it's not like it hasn't happened before, right?"

The professor's face lightened up. "You know what, Storm? Perhaps you're up to something. I will contact Forge – maybe he could help us."

Kitty phased her ear back through the wall after two minutes of eavesdropping. **_So, they may have an idea! Great! Now I shall- _**She stopped thinking when she heard the professor's voice in her head.

**Kitty, you know eavesdropping isn't polite. **

Yeah, professor, I know. I'm just so, like, I mean... it's hard. I really miss him. _Did I just tell him that?_

I know, Kitty. We all do. And I promise you, I will do anything to get Nightcrawler back to us.

Mm. Thank you professor.

And, Kitty? Please don't tell anyone about this 'other-dimension-theory'. We don't know anything for sure yet, and I don't want to wake any false hopes. Okay?

I understand, professor. I promise.

The professor was right – everyone at the mansion missed their blue-furred, long-tailed, pointy-eared mutant. They all did their best to keep each other happy and laughing, especially Evan, but for no use. The fuzzy dude was the one that lightened up a rainy day, the one that made you laugh when you were in a bad mood, not to mention the one that teleported you out when you were breaking every bone in your body during a Danger Room session.

"My God!" exclaimed Evan a couple of days later, when they all, quite exhausted, were leaving the training simulator. "We've done this training program about ten times before and never failed. Why now?"

"Use you brain, Spyke", snarled Scott. "Try to remember. Who used to fix that laser beam thing, the one that steers half of the others? Who used to 'port up there and use both his hands and his tail to set it out of order? Do you remember that guy?"

Evan's face fell. "Nightcrawler", he said quietly.

"Bingo. And where is he?"

"I have no idea."

"He's in another dimension", Kitty said. "At least, that's, like, what the professor and Storm thinks." She could have bitten her own tongue off. She had promised professor Xavier not to tell anyone 'til they knew for sure! "Eh..."

"Another dimension?" Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Well like I, um, am not supposed to tell anybody..."

"We're not 'anybody'. We're the X-Men, and this is all about Kurt, our friend", Scott said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "This doesn't count."

"I think we should confront the professor", said Evan resolute. "How much more has he been hiding from us?"

"Yeah", added Rogue, "if he knows something that has to do with Kurt's disappearance, we have the right to know."

"But", said Jean, "if there's something that professor Xavier's not telling us, I'm sure he has a good reason..."

"Oh, shut up, Jean!" everyone shouted.

* * *

After about half an hour of deliberating with himself, Nightcrawler was now on his way up to the top. He was lucky that he had his tail, not to mention that it was quite practical to have the ability to climb everywhere and anywhere. He didn't have the courage to look down, though. This was something completely different than the cliffs outside the Institute or his many Danger Room sessions.

**_La la la, I am not at all nervous or afraid, and I vill sing a song just to prove it... Row, row, row your boat, gently down ze stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is just a dream... Climb, climb, climb ze cliff, gently to ze top, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, zink my heart vill stop...beating... My God, vhat did I ever do to deserve zis!_**

At least, he reached the top. What he saw made him blink, rub his eyes, and look again. Instead of cold, deep snow, as he had expected, there was a kind of city. The buildings were big and looked like they were made of some sort of rubber. (AN: The material rubber, you pervs!) In fact, everything in this place seemed to be made of rubber. The roads, the lampposts, even the few trees. When Kurt was on the cliff, there hadn't been any clouds on the sky, but here he could see some. They were purple, as the light that surrounded him at the gate at the Institute, and they seemed to be much more compact and nearer the ground than the clouds in "his" world. _**Okay... zis is weird.**  
_  
Suddenly he heard a voice behind him.

"Welcome to Dimension 17, honoured Guest."

* * *

The younger X-Men banged on the door to the Cerebro room, still in their x-uniforms. "Professor! Professor! We want a little chat with you!" The door opened and they all went in.

Scott started talking. "Professor, we've heard something about Kurt and another dimension. Would you please explain that to us?"

Xavier saw Kitty blushing and talked in her head: **It's okay, Kitty. We've got the results. But, try to keep your promises next time.**_  
_  
**I will. I just, like, let it slip. Sorry.**

Professor Xavier gave her a smile and talked. "Well, students, after many hours of searching we do at last know where Kurt is at present. He has been moved to a dimension that we like to call 'Dimension 17'."

Kitty had forgotten to be ashamed and was now excited. "So, what are we, like, waiting for? Let's go and, like, get him!"

"I wish it was that easy, but unfortunately it isn't. I have no idea how making a portal to that place and I'm sure we can not find that out without some help from over there."

The students stood dumbfounded. "You mean you don't know how to bring him back?" Jean said after a moment of silence. Xavier sadly shook his head. "Unless Kurt, or someone else, in some way contacts us, I am afraid there's nothing we can do at the moment."

Scott looked like he had a strong wish to blast the professor. Spyke had a hard time controlling his spikes from flying all around the place. Rogue was almost taking off her gloves and Kitty wanted to phase through Cerebro. Jean almost got things flying uncontrollably in the room – including the professor. Fortunately, none of them fulfilled their wishes.

"I really am sorry."

"Yes", Jean sighed. "We know, professor."

One after another, they left the room, everyone in their own thoughts.

* * *

Kurt turned around. There stood a bunch of strange creatures – they looked a bit like Chewbacca from Star Wars. Their fur was purple, though. Before any of them could open his or her mouth, Kurt talked.

"Dimension 17? Vhat's zat? Vho are you? Vhy am I here?"

"We are Vrogor. We live in Dimension 17, where you are now. And you're here because you are Chosen."

* * *

Yes, I know, I promised more of Kurt. Sorry, but it'll be better. Please review and flame me for my horrible English. (I would also appreciate if you told me your opinions of the story!) 


	3. The Lord of the Vrogor

**_Thoughts_ **

**Telepathy**

**Chapter 3: The Lord of the Vrogor**

Kurt stood dumbfounded, staring at the Vrogor who had spoken.

"Vhat do you mean, 'chosen'?"

"Listen, Guest." The Vrogor – Kurt wasn't sure if it was a man or a woman – gestured some weird figures in the air and suddenly, a purple bubble appeared in the air. It was about one meter in diameter. "For centuries, we've been suspecting that people from other dimensions are going to attack us." A picture appeared in the purple bubble. It showed different kind of evil-looking creatures running after some Vrogor. But they didn't look very real, so Kurt suspected that the Vrogor just had made up the people from the other dimensions – in other words, they seemed to be computer-animated. The Vrogor spoke again. "We're sick of it. So, about 50 years ago, we decided to come up with a plan. We've designed a kind of defence system that'll protect us from invaders." The purple bubble showed a huge creature with two big heads, eight blood-red eyes, a small body with many short legs, and hair like tentacles. It looked a bit like Medusa from the old mythology of Greece. "We were of course forced to test it before we actually could use it, so, we've taken people from other dimensions and made them fight it. This far, no one has beaten it." The bubble now showed the Medusa-looking thing torturing a poor little creature that looked like a yellow ball of yarn. This time, the creature looked real, and Kurt didn't doubt that this really had happened. He gasped.

"You mean... zat you've kidnapped people and forced zem to fight zat... _zing?_"

"I'd appreciate if you used the word 'captured'. There's a BIG different between kidnappers and capturers. And, for your information, we call it 'Vodash'."

Kurt stared at the monster at the screen.

"Yes, isn't it beautiful?" said the Vrogor, misunderstanding the expression on Kurt's face. "We're so proud of it."

A terrible suspecting appeared in the mutant's brain. "And... vhen you say I'm 'chosen'... vhat exactly does zat mean?"

"Oh, just that we've chosen you as the representative from your dimension, Dimension 1", said the Vrogor merrily. Then he – or she – turned around and said to the others: "Take the Guest to the Waiting Room." One of them threw something small and purple against Kurt's face and he lost consciousness.

* * *

The atmosphere at the Institute was extremely dismal. The professor was in his office all the time, desperately seeking for some way to rescue Nightcrawler. Forge was with him 24/7. Logan trained hard in Danger Room to let his anger and frustration out, while Ororo sat in her greenhouse and "watered" the plants. The students sat apathetic at various places of the Institute. None ate very much.

**_Come on, 'Crawler, send us a message,_** Evan pleaded. **_We got to be able to find you._**

**Don't worry, Kurt. We will get you back,** Scott thought, trying hard to convince himself.

Jean stared at the clouds outside. **_You will come back, won't you? You can't leave us. Don't. Please. We need you._**

**_How did this happen? One minute we're all like one big, happy family and the next there's someone missing..._** Rogue thought.

**_Listen, Kurt, I know I haven't always been that nice to you, but I, like, still appreciate you. Or, more exactly, I like you. And I really mean LIKE. As a matter of fact, I think I always have. You're, like, smart and funny and kind, even if I haven't always been like that to you... And, I want you to come back. It won't be, like, the same without you. I will miss you so much. In fact, I already do. Please, PLEASE don't leave me, Kurt. I don't know what I'd do without you,_** Kitty cried silently.

* * *

When Kurt waked up, he was in a purple room. First, he felt a little dizzy, but the he suddenly remembered what had happened before. **_Oh gosh. First, I'm kidnapped and taken to another dimension by paranoid sadists. Now I'm supposed to fight ze most dangerous zing zat exist here. My life's just getting better and better. _**

Surprisingly enough, he didn't panic. Instead, he started to investigate the room. (**_Hm, I zink I've got a hint about zeir favourite colour._**)

There were no windows or even a door. It looked like the Vrogor had built the room around him while he was asleep. **_Should I try to teleport out? Nah, I don't know vhat's outside. Maybe it's best to just vait for something to happen. As if I had any choice..._**

So, he sat down on the floor and thought about Germany, his adoptive parents, the circus, the Institute, the professor, Bayville High, all his friends... Kitty. He liked Kitty, not just as a friend. But did she like him? Probably not. He really didn't think of his looks like an obstacle – not in this case – in fact, he knew she liked his tail, the pointy ears and at least not hated his fur. So, there must be some other reason that she didn't _like_ him, like him. His never-ending jokes? The way he irritated her? He tried to figure out just why she couldn't have the same sort of feelings for him as he had for her, but never came to an answer.

After a while, he started to count the seconds 'til somebody came for him. **_One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..._**

**_

* * *

_**

**_Two-million five-hundred-seventy-zousand and forty-zree, two-million five-hundred-seventy-zousand and forty-four, two-million five-hundred-seventy- zousand and forty-five... _**

Kurt didn't know how many minutes that was, but he imagined it to be a very long time. Strange enough, he wasn't hungry, thirsty or even sleepy.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the purple wall. It grew bigger and bigger, and at least one of the Vrogor stepped through it. "Guest! Come here! You're going to see our Lord."

Though Kurt was quite scared, he felt relieved to the purple room. He followed the Vrogor through a long corridor and at least they reached a door that looked like it was made of rubber. The Vrogor opened the door. "The Guest, my Lord."

"Good. Show him in." The voice from inside the room was deep and a little hoarse. The Vrogor pushed Kurt in and locked the door behind him, as if he suspected that Kurt might flee.

In front of the mutant, there was a big desk and a red chair. In the chair sat one of the Vrogor, but he was a little different than all the other Vrogor Kurt had seen since he came to Dimension 17. This one was more lilac than purple and had a strange white hat that reminded Kurt of the pope's hat. He also wore black gloves over his lilac fur. When he suddenly spoke, he showed a row of big, yellow teeth. Kurt immediately thought of caries.

"I am Varok, the Lord of the Vrogor."

"Eh, yes I know zat", said Kurt.

"You are Nightcrawler from Dimension 1", Varok continued.

"Yes, I know zat too."

"I guess you know why you are here."

"Oh yeah. You vant me to fight zat Vodash zing, zat's vhy I'm here, isn't it?"

"Correct. You will meet the Vodash tomorrow at dawn."

"Um, I zink zere have been some kind of misunderstanding. You know, I don't even vant to _see_ zat monster and you can't force me too." Deep down, Kurt knew it was pointless to argue with the Lord, but he couldn't just stand there and behave as though nothing was wrong.

"I do not think that you have a choice. We had to choose someone from your dimension, and we chose you. There is nothing you can do about it. Do not look at me like that – it is nothing _personal_." He smiled satisfied and continued. "I did not order you here just to talk about your task tomorrow. I guessed you may want some more information about the whole event."

Kurt flinched. He was about to die, and this Lord-guy talked about an _event?_

"You see, all of the Vrogor are deep interested in the Vodash and the results of its tests. So, Nightcrawler, every time we arrange one of these events –" Kurt flinched again "– we send the fight in BV."

"And vhat exactly is BV?"

"BV – Bubble Vision. I thought you saw one of those when you first arrived?"

Kurt remembered the purple bubble the Vrogor had used to show the Vodash. "I guess so. But, could you explain zat further?"

"It is a bit like what you in your dimension call 'TV', except it is in 3- D."

"Oh... Vait a minute. You mean you vant me to fight zat two-headed, tentacled- haired monster vhile your vhole vorld is vatching? LIVE?"

"Oh no, of course not."

Kurt sighed in relief. It was enough frightening to fight the Vodash, without having a whole dimension as spectators.

"Your friends from Dimension 1 will watch as well."

* * *

Review! Review! 


	4. Help is coming

Sorry for not updating. My parents dragged me away from my beloved computer to our summer cottage (without computer). Now we're heading for Germany (the land of Nightcrawler!) for a week, and then the cottage again.

_Thoughts **Thoughts**_

_Telepathy **Telepathy**_

_  
_**Chapter 4: Help is coming**

"My friends vill vatch? You mean you vill bring zem here?" Kurt could hardly believe it. Would they really bring the X-Men to Dimension 17? Then they could help him! They could get him away from this place!

"Bring them here?" Varok sneered. "You are not that stupid, are you? If we brought them here, they would certainly try to _rescue_ you or something like that. No, they will be watching the test in BV."

Kurt's heart sank as a rock. Then, he thought of something.

"But... ve live in Dimension 1! Ve don't have anything like BV:s! How can zey vatch it?"

"We will send them one. It will be interesting for them, seeing their own Nightcrawler in a Vodash-test, don't you think?"

_Oh my God. Zis guy is crazy. Mad. He's totally lost it. Vhat am I going to do?_

The Lord pushed a button on his – of course – purple desk. Something that looked like a mini BV appeared above the desk. It showed another one of the Vrogor. It spoke: "Yes, my Lord?"

Varok answered it in his hoarse voice. "Come and get the Guest."

"Of course, my Lord." The bubble disappeared and Kurt was, once again, alone with the Vrogors' Lord.

"There is nothing you can do but accept it. You will fight the Vodash tomorrow at dawn, and that's it."

Kurt just stared at him. He hardly noticed when the Vrogor from the BV arrived and escorted him back to the mauve room.

Kurt didn't sleep at all that night. All he could think of was the Vodash and the "event" he'd join. _My God, I vill be cut into little pieces,_ he thought_. I vill die a slow and painful death. Or, maybe zat monster vill kill me fast. I hope so. I vonder vhat ze ozzers vill zink vhen zey see me on Bubble Vision? Perhaps zey'll scream, or cry. Maybe zey don't even have ze courage to vatch it. Vhat vill Keety do? I know she cares, but how vill she react? Faint, maybe. And ze professor, vhat vill be his reaction? Vhat vould I do if I vere him? I zink zat I vouldn't let ze ozzers watch it. If it vas someone else zat should fight ze Vodash, Scott for example, and I saw him on Bubble Vision... I vould panic. Absolutely. But it's not him, it's me. Oh gosh, how did I get myself into zis mess? I vill never visit Burger King again. Vhat's vrong vith Keety's cooking anyvay? If I hadn't sneaked out for a burger, none of zis vould have happened... Yes, it vould. Zey told me I vas 'chosen'. I guess I'd have ended up here even if I chose to stay at ze Institute. Darn._

_

* * *

_

_Morning. Great..._ Kurt sighed when one of the Vrogor opened the hole in the wall.

"Come with me, Guest! Hurry up!"

_Take it easy, man. It's not you vho's forced to fight zat beast._ Kurt didn't talk loud – it seemed pointless. He followed the Vrogor out of the hole and down the hallway.

* * *

"Good morning, Kitty."

"Good morning, Rogue."

_Wonderful. Another day without Kurt. This is meaningless. Now I'll phase through the floor, eat a silent breakfast with the others, then have a, like, hard Danger Room session which we will fail totally, take a shower, eat a silent lunch, walk around thinking for, like, the whole afternoon, eat a silent dinner, watch Jeopardy and go to bed. Tomorrow I'll wake up for another pointless day that'll be exactly the same as today, without laughs, jokes, pranks or any optimism at all. This is great. Kurt, where are you?  
_  
Kitty put on her clothes and phased through the floor. The others were already there, helping themselves to toast, tomatoes, milk, juice and bacon.

Bacon. Kurt's favourite.

They all ate in silence, when suddenly a purple bubble appeared in the air about one meter above the table. Everyone made a little jump on their chairs.

"What the heck is that!" Scott exclaimed.

"I have no idea", said Evan confused.

"Maybe –" Storm was cut off when a purple, hairy face appeared in the bubble.

"Hello there! You're friends of Nightcrawler, right?"

Nightcrawler!

"Who are you?" Logan bellowed. "What have you done to the elf?"

"Elf?" said the purple face. "We have no elf here. We do have your friend, Nightcrawler. The Guest."

"What do you mean, 'guest'?" Jean asked.

The face – which presented itself as Vidish – now explained to the X-Men what had been explained to Kurt – about the Vrogor's suspicions of being attacked, about the Vodash and the 'tests'. Everyone gasped at the sight of the Vodash, except for the professor and Forge, who studied the bubble's structure.

"And, to make a long story short", Vidish went on, "your friend's chosen from Dimension 1. Nightcrawler will be tested with the Vodash in five minutes, and our Lord, Varok, did not want you to miss it. That's why we've sent you this Bubble Vision. You don't have to thank us. Enjoy the event!"

Vidish disappeared and now the bubble showed a big, empty arena. The X-Men sat dumbfounded. Evan was the first one to speak.

"Please tell me this isn't happening."

"Have I understood this right? Kurt's going to fight that monster and all we can do is watch?" Rogue's voice was calm but shaking. The others sat quiet. None said anything 'til a sound – it sounded a bit like a trumpet – could be heard from the mauve bubble.

* * *

AN: From now on, normal letters will describe what's happening in Dimension 17. **Bold letters describes what happens at the same time at the Institute.** I really hope it's not too hard to read.

* * *

The Vrogor pushed Kurt through a door and quickly closed it behind him. Kurt looked around. He was in some sort of arena. It was empty, though._ Vere am I?_

**"Look, there he is!" **

Kitty looked at Nightcrawler who was pushed out from a little door. He looked rather confused. _So close, and still so far away_, she thought.

Kurt noticed a big gate at the opposite side of the arena. _Is zat ze Vodash's gate?_ he wondered._ Vill my death arrive from zere? I guess it's not vise to walk closer._ He decided to not stay too close to the wall, though. He didn't want to give the monster the opportunity to push him up against the wall.

**"Why is he walking against the middle? I think he should stay at the wall", said Evan. **

"I think he's smart", said Storm. "The Flodash will have a hard time trying to catch him when he has more space around him."

"Vodash, not Flodash", corrected Scott.

"It doesn't matter!" exclaimed Rogue. "Flodash, Vodash, so what! The name isn't important. It'll be just as dangerous if you call it Vodash or if you call it Flodash. Please –"

"Shut up and watch the bubble! That gate's opening!"

The big gate opened slowly and something crawled out. It had hair like tentacles, short legs, blood-red eyes and two heads.

The Vodash.

A voice could be heard from a speaker. "And, dear Vrogor, at last it's time for the next Vodash test. This time, the Guest is from Dimension 1. His name is Nightcrawler. I've been told that he has pretty much experience of fighting, so this test will be extra exciting. But I won't speak any longer. Let the fight begin, and may the Vodash win! Hey, that rhymed..."

Kurt saw the monster coming closer. _Vhat to do vhat to do vhat to do_, he thought. _How about–_ but he was interrupted in his thoughts by a long tentacle heading for him in a very high speed.

"Holy crap!" He teleported. The tentacle hit the ground where he had been standing one second earlier.

**The X-Men gasped.  
**  
**"Oh my, that was close!" said Jean. **

"There must be something we can do! I'm not going to sit here and let that beast torture Kurt", yelled Kitty. "Professor!"

No answer.

"Professor?"

Kurt had teleported to the opposite side of the Vodash, but couldn't decide if it could see him or not – he wasn't even sure if it even had a back. He became aware of it when another tentacle threw itself against him and he teleported again. He now sat crouched four meters up on the wall at the other side of the arena, where he hoped that the Vodash wouldn't locate him. _But presumably it will. I can't just retreat and retreat, zere must be something I can do..._ "AAAAHHHHHH!"

**"No! That tentacle got him!" **

"Am I wrong, or did it cut him in some way?"

"I don't know... what's that on his shoulder?"

"I'd say it was blood if it wasn't some kind of mix between purple and silver..."

Kitty didn't listen. She had given up her attempts to call the professor (she refused to leave the BV to go look for him, and she was too distracted to remember he was a telepath) and now watched Kurt, pale as snow and more or less paralyzed. _Oh my God, he will die. No, he won't! He can't die. He can't..._

One of the tentacles had caught the blue mutant while he was distracted. It secreted some kind of purple and silver fluid on his shoulder. It burned.

"Ow! Vhat is zis?"

Kurt tried to brush it away, but he only managed to let the fluid burn his hands too. But he didn't let that bother him – the Vodash had lifted him several meters up in the air and prepared to wolf him down.

"**Teleport, fuzzy! Teleport!" **

"Oh, look at its _teeth!_ Like a shark's!"

"Oh my goodness...!"

"C'mon, Blue Boy! TELEPORT! Oh, he made it... phew!"

"Thank God he's able to 'port."

"It's not over yet", Jean whined. "He cannot flee forever. He has to do something sooner or later."

"And we will help him!"

Everybody turned around. The professor and Forge entered the room, Forge carrying a strange sort of machine, kinda like the one that'd transported him and Kurt to Middleverse.

"What's that?"

"We took data from that bubble", Forge said. "And if we program this hyper-communicator to send out and take in signals according to the bubble, we may be able to change the sphere in that dimension. (AN: I have no idea of what I wrote in that sentence. Just imagine it as something very smart and scientific but very hard to understand.)

Evan scratched his head. "Ehm... in English?"

"If everything works, we'll be able to travel to Dimension 17 and rescue Kurt."

"You really mean that?" Rogue said, her voice shaking with excitement.

"Of course I do. But only six may go. We can transport seven people at most, and we must bring Kurt back."

"I go!" Kitty volunteered, without taking her eyes off the bubble.

"And me", Rogue and Jean said at the same time.

"Me too", Scott said.

"I'm going", Logan growled. "No one messes with the elf. That beast will be introduced to my claws!"

"And me. I'm going too. I think I may be needed", Xavier said.

"Okay, we have no time to lose. Stand there!" Forge ordered. Kitty, Jean, Scott, Rogue, Logan and professor Xavier lined up against the wall and listened to him. "You'll be there for three hours, at most. If you leave the arena, you must be back there at that time."

"I have something to say too, before we leave", professor Xavier said.

"Well, like, hurry up!" Kitty snapped.

**"Our most important task is, of course, to save Kurt", Xavier continued. "But we have more to do than that. Vidish said that the Vrogor captured people from other dimensions. We must stop them from doing that." **

"How?" Scott asked.

"I don't know yet."

"Wonderful..."

"Are you ready or not?" Forge interrupted.

"Yes, we're ready", Logan snarled. "Start that thing so we can leave."

"Okay." Forge pushed a few buttons on the machine and it started to glow and shake. "You'll leave in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one..."

A beam shot out from the machine and the rescuing patrol disappeared in a cloud of purple sparks.

* * *

Once again, I hope it wasn't too complicated to read.

Goddess of Idun


	5. Fighting the Vodash

Sorry for taking so long. School's started again...

_**Thoughts**_

**Telepathy**

**Chapter five: Fighting the Vodash**

Kurt ran on all fours away from the Vodash. Suddenly, when he looked back, he ran into something. He looked up. What he saw made him rub his eyes and look again.

"_Wolverine?"_

"Hello, elf. No time to talk. Just take it easy."

It said "snit!" when Logan's claws came out and he rushed against the monster with a roar. Kurt couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Xavier, Rogue, Jean, Scott and Kitty standing before him.

"Vh... vha... vhat are you doing here?"

"Hm, let's see", Rogue said sarcastically. "Watching _Lady and the Tramp_? No. Jumping from branch to branch in a young oak? No. Rescuing you? Yep, that must be it! If you now excuse us, fuzzy, we must take care of that disgusting creature for you."

She, Scott and Jean set for the Vodash with determined faces. The voice in the speaker said: "Hm, it seems like Nightcrawler's gotten backup! That's not very good..."

Kitty fell on her knees beside the still confused Nightcrawler. She could barely believe that he really was there. She was with her fuzzy elf, and he was alive! **_Thank God thank God thank God_**, she thought. She ran her hand through his hair and enjoyed the sight of him.

"Keety?"

"Yes, Kurt?

"Are you really here, or am I hallucinating?"

"We're here, Kurt, don't worry. We'll take it from here. Are you, like, all right?" She seemed to search for wounds on his body. "Oh my God, what's that on

your forehead?"

"My forehead?" Kurt couldn't remember anything on his forehead. But wait... hadn't he gotten a cut there when he first came to Dimension 17? "Oh yes, zat... um, not very serious. I'll survive."

"Oh, let's hope so... On your shoulder then?"

"Don't touch it! It burns."

"Oh, you poor thing!"

"Take it easy, Kurt. We will take care of that for you", professor Xavier assured him.

"Really?"

"Of course."

It was strange how the three mutants could be so calm on the middle of all the tumult. Well, at least Kitty and the professor were calm. Kurt still had a lot of adrenaline in his body. Meanwhile, the four fighters had a (more or less) hard time.

"Scott! Blast it!"

"I can't, my visor's back in our dimension!

"So take of your glasses! I'll tell you where to look."

"Okay, Rogue." Scott took off his shades while keeping his eyes closed.

"Okay... right... right, no, left! That's perfect! Open your eyes... now!"

Scott opened his eyes, blasted the Vodash and cut off two of its tentacles. It roared in pain, and while it was distracted Wolverine cut off one more. Scott put his glasses back on. Jean got one of the remaining tentacles to hit the Vodash in its eyes.

"Jeez!" said the Vrogor in the speaker, "This really is bad! It seems like the Vodash's having problem!" The tone told that the voice barely believed what itself was saying.

All of a sudden, Jean heard the professor's voice in her head. **Jean, I've got an idea! Listen. Take control over one of the tentacles, and make it 'tease' the Vodash right before its eyes. If we're lucky, it will bite itself. At least, it's worth a try.**

**Okay, professor. I'll give it a try.**Jean got one of the tentacles with help of her telekinesis – there weren't many tentacles left now, just four or five – and did as the professor had told her to. It worked – the monster bit its own tentacle off.

"You know what?" Kitty said to Kurt and Xavier. "This is, like, too easy. There must be a drawback somewhere."

"I think you're right, Kitty", the professor answered thoughtfully. "This really is too simple."

"Actually", Kurt said, having calmed down a bit, "I don't zink zere is a drawback at all. Ze Vrogor told me zat none of ze other 'guests'", he snorted, "have ever made it before. Maybe, ve're just better fighters zan zey vere, and ve're better zan ze Vodash too. Vell, except for me." He looked a little melancholy. "I vould've been dead by now if you hadn't come. I'm vorthless."

"How can you say so? Of course you aren't worthless! And, like, none of us could have beaten that creature alone. It's teamwork that counts."

By now, the Vodash had lost all its tentacles and obviously it wasn't even aware of it, as it seemed to keep trying to throw the tentacles against the x-men. But, since all the tentacles were off, it wasn't doing too well. With one last optic beam from Scott the Vodash fell in a disgusting heap on the ground.

"I... I... I can't believe it!" the Vrogor said in the speaker. "They won! Nightcrawler and the others from Dimension 1 have fought the Vodash and..." he or she gulped, "won!"

The X-Men gathered around Kurt.

"You okay, elf?" Logan grunted.

"Yeah, just a few cuts", Kurt answered.

"We're sorry we didn't come sooner", Rogue excused herself.

"But we really came as fast as we could", Jean said. "Please, don't be angry with us!"

"But I ain't angry", Kurt told her. "I'm just happy you came at all."

"As much as I'd love to listen to this conversation", Xavier said, "we have better things to do."

"Of course!" the blue mutant shouted. "Get home as soon as possible!"

"Well, that too." professor Xavier smiled. "But we got to stop the Vrogor from kidnapping more creatures from other dimensions."

Kurt looked like Christmas had been cancelled. Would he have to stay any longer in this terrible dimension? Then he "heard" the professor in his head:

**_Yes Kurt, you have to stay for a bit longer. I know it's hard, but think of everybody else the Vrogor will hurt and kill because of their ridiculous imaginations. You were one of their victims yourself – do you want more people to go through that?_**

He blushed._ **No I don't. Excuse me professor.**_

The professor gave him a little smile and then said: "Okay X-Men, get ready for giving these people a lesson!"

* * *

God, do I feel embarrassed? THIS CHAPTER SUCKS! And it's very short, but that's a positive thing with it, I guess...(This friend of mine says that this chapter doesn't suck, but I know it does and you know that too, so could you please leave a review and tell her I'm right?)

Idun


	6. The labyrinth

Thanks to all my reviewers, and SPECIAL thanks to **Shadow-Kitty-Cat **who managed to cheer me up when I thought last chapter sucked! This chapter is dedicated to you.

_**Thoughts**_

**Telepathy **

**Chapter six: The labyrinth **

"Okay, how to get out of this arena? Kurt?"

"Actually Scott, I'm not so sure, I vas quite lost in my own zoughts vhen zey brought me here", the blue mutant confessed and shrugged. Kitty gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

"Well, let's try that door." Rogue pointed to the door from which Kurt had come out.

Jean went to it and felt the door knob. "It's locked."

"Okay, I guess we'll use that monster's door then."

The X-Men walked up to the gates from which the monster had arrived and looked in. The weak, strange light from several purple torches showed some kind of a tunnel, which seemed to be very long – they couldn't see where it ended. None of them looked very eager to enter it first.

"Um, ladies first."

"Oh no Scott, you may go first."

"But it's not very polite to let women wait."

"No really, it's okay..."

"Oh heck, I'll go first", Logan growled and took a few steps into the tunnel. "Cowards."

The others followed him nervously. After about 30 meters, the tunnel parted in two.

"Which way, professor?"

"Let's split up. Logan, Jean and Kurt go left, and Scott, Rogue, Kitty and I go right."

"Oh no." Kitty took a step forward. "I'm going with fuzzy."_ **Like I'm going to let him out of my sight now.**_

"Kitty..."

"Listen, I'll keep Kurt company, whether you like it or not. Like, deal with it." snorted Kitty. She put her hand at Kurt's shoulder. His heart made a jolt.

_**Maybe she does like me after all!**_

The professor sighed, but with a twinkle in his eye. "All right Kitty, you go left. Jean, you and I will keep contact by telepathy."

"Right, professor."

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

AN: From now on, I'll call Logan's group 'L-group', and the professor's group 'P-group'.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

The L-group slowly walked through the tunnel. Though the tunnel wasn't exactly narrow, Kitty walked very close to Kurt. She still found it hard to believe that he actually was there. **_My very own fuzzy elf._**

**_Does she like me? Or is she just vorried because I'm a team mate?_** Kurt thought nervously. **_Oh, if I only knew for sure!_**

Suddenly, Jean "heard" the professor inside her head. **Have you seen anything yet, Jean? **

**No, professor. You? **

**Nothing. But, if something happens, just contact me, right? **

**Sure. **

"The professor did just contact me", Jean said to the others. "Nothing new there."

"Okay", said Kitty. "By the way, does anyone, like, have an idea of how long we've been here?"

"No", said Kurt. "Vhy?"

"Well, Forge told us that we had three hours at most in this dimension", Jean told him. "And we must be back in the arena by that time, or we'll be stuck

here." Kurt shuddered.

"I think we've been here for, let's see, maybe 45 minutes", Logan said. "That leaves us two hours and 15 minutes. We better hurry... What's that noise?"

"What noi..." Kitty started, but Kurt put his three-fingered hand over her mouth. "Don't disturb him", he mimed.

Logan used his super hearing trying to figure out what was causing the noise. "There's something here", he said in a low voice. He sniffed in the air. "But I don't – "(sniff) "– know what – "(sniff) "– it is." (sniff sniff) "But I know for sure that it is around the corner." His claws came out. "Wait here."

"Logan", Jean started, but Logan had already disappeared. Suddenly, a shriek could be heard. Kurt, Jean and Kitty ran around the corner. There stood Logan, his claws a pretty scary shade of red. A strange animal with wings, like a purple giant bat, lay on the ground. It had a big cut on its stomach that was coloured dark red from blood.

"That creep tried to attack me", explained Logan. "So I killed it."

"Riiight", gulped Nightcrawler. The dead creature on the ground wasn't a very pretty sight. "Vhat is zat animal anyway?"

"Dunno. Never seen something like it ever before."

Kitty took a step forward and touched one of the creature's wings. "Kinda like leather", she said.

Jean took telepathic contact with Xavier. **Professor Xavier! **

**Yes, Jean? **

**You wanted me to tell you if something happened. **

**Yes, I did. Why? **

**Logan just killed a strange animal. **

**What kind of animal? **

**It looks like a big bat. Purple. About the size of a badger. **

**Oh. Are you sure it's dead? **

**If you insist, I'll check. Wait a minute.**Jean bent forward and poked the animal on its head with her finger.** Well, it certainly looks dead... **

**Okay, I trust you. Keep going. **

**Bye, professor. **

**Bye, Jean. **

The L-group started going again. Behind them, the bat-looking creature opened one eye.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

"I just got a message from Jean", said Xavier to the rest of the P-group. "They've seen a big bat. Logan killed it."

"A bat?" asked Rogue and raised an eyebrow.

"She said that it looked like a bat, the size of a badger."

"Do you think there could be more of them?" said Scott nervously.

"I have no clue, Scott. Let's keep our eyes open. We do not know what could be hidden in here."

The only thing Scott could manage to say was "Hm." He wanted to have a real fight out in the open rather than creeping around in a spooky labyrinth full of bats. And above all, he was just wearing his ordinary glasses and not his visor, which meant he couldn't control his optic beams at all, which made him feel very uncomfortable. He wasn't in a good mood at all.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

Back at the Institute, Storm, Evan and Forge waited impatiently. They had seen the fight against the Vodash in the BV, but since the mutants in Dimension 17 had left the arena, all they could see now was the monster's corpse and some Vrogor who were trying get it out of there.

"Come _on_!" said Evan, frustrated. "What's taking them so long? I wish that I had gone with them."

"Maybe it was a good thing you didn't, Evan", said Storm. "They managed to defeat the Flodash, remember? And I don't think being too many is a good thing."

"And, as I told you, only six could go", Forge said, studying the bubble. "If we sent seven persons, we'd have to leave Kurt there. Or someone else."

"Yeah", said Evan miserably. "I know. Still... I feel so useless just sitting here doing nothing!"

"Me too, Evan. But this is how it is."

"Yes, auntie O... Look!"

In the BV they could see some Vrogor who didn't look very happy. They had some kind of guns – at least, that's what it looked like – and were on their way into the tunnel that the X-Men had walked into.

"Um... is there someone else who thinks that those types are up to no good?"

* * *

That's all for now! Please, _please _review! (puppy eyes)

Idun


	7. Fleeing

There are absolutely no excuses for this delay. I haven't been updating for a year! I feel so ashamed, really, I do. I hope you forgive me and that you'll like this chapter, although Scott and professor Xavier might seem to be quite OOC.

Have I, by the way, told you that I don't like Evan? I think he is kind of boring, that's why I let him stay at the Institute.

_**Thoughts**_

_**Telepathy**_

Chapter seven: Fleeing

After slaying two more bats, the L-group was getting kind of bored.

"Won't this tunnel _ever _end?" exclaimed Kitty. "We've been walking for ages! And I am, like, sick of this freaky rubber material!" She poked the wall with a disgusted face expression.

"Listen, half-pint", growled Logan, "I don't like this more than you do, but we won't get out any sooner because of you complaining. Shut up and let me think!"

Kitty opened her mouth to argue, but both Kurt and Jean gave her 'the look', the one that meant 'don't mess with Logan'. It was usually most used on Kitty and Evan – Kitty because she was stubborn, and Evan because he simply didn't understand when he was crossing the line. Kitty kept her mouth shut.

* * *

The P-group wasn't doing much better. Xavier seemed to be lost in thoughts, which annoyed Rogue, and Scott was fighting his claustrophobia. He was afraid of closed spaces, although he never told anyone – everyone thought of him as the 'cool' guy, and he wanted to keep it that way. But now, he was having a hard time not whining and calling for his mum. Rogue noticed his pale face.

"Hey Cyclops, what's up?"

"Eh, pardon?" _**Hate these tunnels, hate these tunnels, hate these tunnels! Must get out!** _

"Well, you do look like you've seen Alvers dancing strip-tease. Sure you're all right?"

"Eh, I'm fine, don't worry 'bout me…" _**Maybe that wall would explode if I blast it?**_

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "You're not claustrophobic, are you?"

That remark made Scott break up from his mental pictures. "What? Me? Forget it!" Rogue smirked at him and he gave her a glare and turned to Xavier, mainly to change the subject. "So, any idea how to get out of here, professor?"

Xavier didn't get time to answer before they heard footsteps.

* * *

"I've heard that if you're lost in a labyrinth, you can make your way out by keeping your hand to the right wall and always follow that", said Jean in a voice that was meant to sound merry. "Turn right whenever the tunnel parts in two and such."

"Yeah, but that wouldn't help us much, now would it?" hissed Shadowcat. "First, we should have kept to the right from the very first beginning, and second, we, like, don't even know where we're _going!_"

"Sorry, just trying to cheer us up a bit", said Jean, offended. "I cannot see _you _working very hard to – "

"Girls, stop it", interrupted Nightcrawler, who had seen Wolverine's eye twitch. "I don't zink – "

_ZAP! _

A purple blast hit a torch and turned it to ashes. Kitty gulped, since her head had been two decimetres under that torch. Kurt gulped too, of the same reason.

"RUN!" roared Logan and took off. Jean, while running as fast as she could, decided that this was the kind of situation that the professor would like to know about. _**Professor Xavier! PROFESSOR!**_

When she received an answer, she was surprised to hear that Xavier's voice wasn't as concerned as she had supposed, but kind of irritated. _**What is it, Jean? Hurry up, we're a little busy at the moment!**_

_**Sorry, but we're being chased by the Vrogor!** _Jean ducked when another blast came her way.

_**Oh really? What a coincidence, so are we!**_

* * *

Let's go back in time a few minutes…

When the P-group heard the footsteps approaching, they turned their heads around. They saw something purple moving in the end of the tunnel, and then looked at each other, whereupon Scott said:

"Now we're in deep shit."

Then he grabbed the wheel chair and they all started running. Pushing a twenty pound wheel chair with 140 pounds of professor in it is quite hard, but 'fear give you strength', as some people say. Scott managed quite well. Rogue had a look over her shoulder, and saw three raging Vrogor before losing them out of sight when the P-group turned left. She winced. **_Bugger, bugger, bugger! We'll never make it! We're lost, Scott hasn't got his visor, not to mention that we're having a bloody _wheel chair _to care about!_**

It was in this moment Jean contacted the professor and told him about their difficult situation, and was informed of the P-group's as well.

_**Oh. So, we'll just keep running, then?**_

_**Yes, that's better than trying to put up a fight. They're on the home ground right now, and –** _

The professor was interrupted as they turned a corner and he collided with Kitty, who gave him a look and then blinked. "Oh, hello professor! Like, nice to see you again."

Logan seemed to have recovered quite quickly from running into Scott. "There is no time for greetings! We're surrounded!"

Kurt, of course, started to blame himself again. "Zis is all my fault. If I hadn't – "

"Hey, blue boy! Look up!" shouted Rogue, and pointed to several iron bars in the ceiling. "You think you can climb up there?"

Upon hearing this, Nightcrawler looked up, and broke into a smile. Without a word, he climbed up the wall and then clung to the ceiling to the bars and pulled them off quite easily. He stuck up his head through the hole, looked around and gulped. He knew this room.

"Kurt! Come down and help us!" Scott's voice was heard. Kurt pulled himself together and jumped down to his friends. It was a matter of seconds before the Vrogor would catch them, but with a little help from the fuzzy guy's teleporting powers they all got up in time. Jean quickly pulled a purple (predictable?) rug over the hole, so that the Vrogor that were chasing them wouldn't notice the light that came from the hole. Kitty noticed that Kurt didn't look very well. She put a hand on his arm.

"Kurt? You all right?"

Kurt nodded nervously. "I know vhere ve are."

"So, where are we then?" growled Wolverine.

"Ve are in Varok's, the Lord of the Vrogor, office."

Varok wasn't there at the moment, but Kurt recognized the red chair which the big, purple, heartless creature had been sitting in. If he squinted, he could almost see, through his eyelashes, that horrible smile with the yellow teeth. He went back to his little conversation with the boss Vrogor in his mind.

"_I guess you know why you are here." _

"Oh yeah. You vant me to fight zat Vodash zing, zat's vhy I'm here, isn't it?"

"Correct. You will meet the Vodash tomorrow at dawn."

Kurt shuddered. Kitty noticed this and frowned, but said nothing. Professor Xavier called her attention. "Kitty, would you mind taking a look outside this room? I'd rather not open the door, since we don't know what's outside."

Kitty nodded and phased her head through the door. The other x-men saw her neck moving, first to the right and then to the left – then she quickly pulled her head back and turned around with frightened eyes.

"Watch out!"

Before anyone got the time to say 'for what?' the door opened and one of the Vrogor rushed in and slammed the door shut. Wolverine's claws came out with a "snit!" but the Vrogor put its hands up. "Stop, listen to me! I mean no harm, I'm on your side!"

* * *

I told you that Scott and Xavier would be OOC… I don't think that Scott really is that claustrophobic, and the professor wouldn't be so snappy towards Jean, even though he was chased by Chewbacca-copies who wanted to kill him…

Short chapter, I know. But please, PLEASE review! Or I might lose all courage and not update at all!


	8. An ally and a plan

I really wanted to update sooner, but my Internet broke down and I couldn't use it for several days. Since I'm addicted to the Internet, it was a real catastrophe…

On my profile, there's a picture of a bunny rabbit. Please copy him to your presentation to help him take over the world.

X-Men Evolution belongs to Marvel (doesn't it?), not to me. However, I do own Dimension 17 and everything that comes with it (practically everything that's purple and starts with a 'V').

**_Thoughts_**

**Telepathy**

**Chapter 8: An ally and a plan**

Xavier, Wolverine and the others stared at the panting Vrogor before them. Although all the Chewbacca-looking creatures looked almost the same, Kurt got a strange feeling that this Vrogor was a woman. She opened her mouth and talked.

"My name is Vingen. I've always hated these disgusting 'tests', and when I saw that you defeated the Vodash, I got really happy. I decided to do something to help you, since I guess you've been having some problems finding your way around."

"And why should we trust you?" growled Logan, still with his claws out. "Can you prove to us that you're trustworthy?"

Vingen frowned. "Eh, didn't think of that…"

"I'll take care of it", interrupted Xavier. "I'm a telepath, remember?" He stared into Vingen's eyes. She looked nervous, but stared back. **_What is he doing to me?_**

**I'm reading your mind.**

Vingen startled – she had heard a voice inside of her head!**_ What was that?_**

**You heard me. I'm investigating your brain, to see if we can trust you or not.**

Vingen was quite scared now, but she was a brave Vrogor, and since she had been completely honest with these strange creatures from another world, she decided to 'talk back' to the weird person with the piercing gaze. **So? Do you find anything worth the effort?**

Professor Xavier raised an eyebrow. **A very interesting mind indeed. But that's not important right now.**

He looked at the others. "We can trust her. She won't betray us."

Logan still looked suspicious, but held his hand out for Vingen to shake. She stared at it, confused. When Logan understood that she wouldn't take it, he frowned, thinking of her as impolite. He opened his mouth (probably to call her something rude), but before he got time to say anything, Jean beat him to it.

"She's not used to handshakes", Jean explained.

Wolverine's eyes widened in understanding, then he raised an eyebrow. "Because no one likes her or because they just don't shake hands in this freaky place?"

Professor Xavier frowned at him. "Logan, that was – "

"No, it's alright", said Vingen. "We don't use handshakes here. Although I've never been very popular with my own people anyway."

"Why not?" asked Rogue, discreet as always.

"Well, mostly because I disagree with the 'tests', as I've already told you. Everyone else think that I've lost my mind, but they're all brainwashed by Varok."

"Why aren't you?" wondered Scott.

"Don't know, actually. Maybe I'm more able to keep to my own opinions than they are. Varok and his companions send those freaky images on the BV, and everyone goes all 'Oooohhh, we must stop that' and 'Thank the big purple Vodana above for the Vodash' and 'Varok is our hero', you get the picture." Vingen looked very embittered.

"Eh, what do you, like, mean with 'the big purple Vodana above'?" asked Kitty.

"Vodana is the goddess of Dimension 17", explained Vingen. "That's her, on the wall." She pointed to a huge picture frame on the wall. The mutants stared at it, confused.

After a while, Kurt cleared his throat. "H-hm, zere's no picture."

And he was right; the picture frame didn't hold any picture. All you could see was the purple wall behind it. Vingen's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, that's because no one knows what Vodana looks like. Once, someone tried painting a picture of their personal Vodana, but people took it as sacrilege and the poor artist got fed to the Vodash."

The X-Men paled. Vingen raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Why so surprised? I thought you'd already understood that this isn't paradise exactly?"

"I so want to get home", said Rogue in a very small voice.

The room was quiet for a few minutes, then Scott made a little jump and gasped: "Gosh, what time is it?"

This made our heroes look at their wrist watches. "We've got one hour and 40 minutes left. We better do something, quickly!"

Xavier turned to Vingen. "You know this place. What's the best thing to do? You see, we've got a time limit…"

Vingen nodded. "Well, I think the wisest thing to do right now is to find Varok. If we can make _him _stop this madness, the others will follow as well. The Vrogor aren't that mean, actually – everything is Varok's fault. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him."

"Eh, excuse me", interrupted Kurt. "I vas told zat you've been suspecting zat you'll be attacked for _centuries_? How can it all be Varok's fault?"

"We live long lives", said Vingen. "I am 432 years old. Varok's 767, if I remember correctly."

"Oh."

"So, where can we find Varok?" asked Jean.

"At the moment, he should be with his council, furious because of you." She smiled. "Down the hall and to the left."

"How do you know?"

"I have my ways. So, what do you want to do?"

The mutants turned to professor Xavier, which seemed lost in his own thoughts. After a while, he looked up. "I have an idea. Vingen, does Varok have a family?"

The Vrogor looked at him funny, but said: "Yeah, he's got three partners and 17 kids which he loves very much. Look around you!"

The X-Men suddenly discovered pictures of Vrogor everywhere around them – on the walls, on the table, even a few that were stuck to the ceiling. They gaped.

**_Why the hell didn't we notice those before?_ **wondered Rogue.** _It's not exactly like they're hard to miss… _**

The pictures were of a Vrogor family, the kids were a lighter shade of purple and had maroon spots here and there. Kitty thought they looked like really cute stuffed animals. Logan, on the other hand, looked at the pictures with disgust. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Charles, what do these fur balls –" (Vingen frowned) "– have to do with our mission?"

"I was thinking… maybe we should give the Lord of the Vrogor a little lesson. So that he understands what he's doing to the people he kidnaps and their families and friends." He turned to their big, purple, hairy friend. "I need to use a Bubble Vision studio."

"Well, there is one in this very building", started Vingen, "but why…?"

"I'll explain later. Show us to the BV studio!"

While Vingen looked out to see if the coast was clear, Kitty whispered to Kurt: "Do you, like, have any idea of what Xavier's talking about?"

A wide smile was spreading over the mutant's blue face. "Actually, I zink I do. And if I'm right, Varok vill certainly deserve it."

* * *

So, is Kurt right about the plan? What do Varok's three partners and 17 kids have to do with Xavier's idea? And why don't those annoying little red lines (you know, those that mean that there's a spelling mistake) come up when I write 'Xavier'? The answers will show up in the next chapter of **Dimension 17**! Well, maybe not the answer of the last question, but what the hell…

Thank you, everyone that has reviewed! And everyone who reads this, please, PLEASE leave a review! You'd make my day!

Idun


	9. Getting pictures

I know it has been a while since last time I updated, sorry. I hope that all of you have had a merry christmas and a happy new year.

I recently discovered a HUGE, GIGANTIC, EXTREMELY BIG error in chapter one. I wrote that there was a beautiful sunset over the sea. But since the X-Men live at the East coast (don't they?) there cannot have been a sunset over the sea, since the sun doesn't set in East. I cannot understand how I could make that mistake!

**Telepathy**

_**Thinking**_

**Chapter 9: Getting pictures**

The X-Men stood in the Bubble Vision studio to which Vingen had brought them. For once, the walls weren't purple, but that might have been because there were computer screens all over them instead. Most of the screens were black, but some of them showed different rooms and corridors, with or without Vrogor.

"Security cameras," explained Vingen. "Since this place is an important government building, they keep record of everything that moves in here."

"What if they've, like, caught us on tape?" asked Kitty.

"We'd know if they had. The alarms would have gone off long ago."

"So, Charles, what's your plan?" asked Wolverine and poked the recently awake, but now unconscious guard on the floor with his foot.

Instead of answering, Xavier turned to Jean. "Did you bring the pictures of Varok's family as I asked you to?"

Jean's face turned the same red colour as her hair. "Eh…"

"You forgot them, didn't you?" sighed Rogue.

"Nightcrawler, would you please teleport back to Varok's office and pick up some pictures?" said the professor. Then he continued in telepathy: **I can understand it if you don't want to, but you know that I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't necessary.**

Kitty saw that Kurt wasn't very eager to go back to the room in which he'd gotten to know that he would be executed, so she glared at Xavier and then put a hand on the blue mutant's arm. **_I'm coming with you, fuzzy, _**she thought. And even though she wasn't a telepath, Kurt seemed to understand. He smiled a little, and turned to the professor. "I'll do it."

Professor Xavier gave a small smile that clearly said that he knew what was going on. "Thank you. Well, off you go! And be careful… both of you."

**_How is it zat he knows everyzing?_** Kurt had time to think before he and Kitty vanished into thin air. **_Even vithout all zis telepazy, he alvays seems to have a clue about vat's going on… _**

Kitty was only too glad to be allowed to follow Kurt. She would do anything to protect him, even if she'd have to face that monster of a lord all by herself… although she hoped that she wouldn't have to do it.

When they appeared again in Varok's office, they were pleased to discover that it still was empty. They immediately started to pick up some pictures of the lord's family. Suddenly, they reached for the same photography (one with three Vrogor children wearing big toothless smiles), and their hands touched. They both froze and stared at each other uncomfortably, when they saw the door knob moving. Without thinking, both of the mutants threw themselves down under the desk. The door opened, and they could see the legs of one of the Vrogor. It wasn't Varok though; Kurt remembered that his colour was a little different from most of the others. The Vrogor started going through some of the papers on the desk while humming on something that sounded uncomfortably much like a funeral song. Kurt winced.

Suddenly, both of the X-Men became aware of how close they sat. Even though it was a big desk, there wasn't space enough for the both of them to have their 'own personal sphere'. Kitty sat with one arm around Kurt's shoulders, and the blue boy's tail encircled her waist. It's quite needless to say that their legs touched, also. Kind of much.

They looked at each other, and for a moment they forgot all about the danger they were in. Their eyes locked, Kitty's blue ones and Kurt's yellow ones. It was as if time stopped. They didn't even realize when the Vrogor found the papers it was looking for and left. They closed their eyes and the space between their faces became smaller and smaller…

**Kurt! Kitty! You alright back there?**

The two mutants under the desk jumped away from each other, both blushing furiously. The tension was broken in the same moment Jean called for them.

**Guys? Do you hear me?**

**_Eh, yes, _**answered Kitty. **_We hear you._**

**Are you okay?**

_**Yeah. We almost got discovered, but it all went out fine.**_

**Good. We were getting quite worried over here. Can you come back now? Vingen doesn't know how long 'til someone comes in here.**

**_Sure, ve're on our vay,_** Kurt thought back.

He and Kitty looked at each other uncomfortably.

"So," started Kitty, "I guess we should, like, take some last pictures with us…"

"Yeah, zat sounds good," agreed Kurt. They picked up some pictures during silence, where after Kurt teleported them back to the BV studio.

When they appeared in front of the others, Xavier gave them a weird look, but mentioned nothing that could have anything to do with what almost happened under Varok's desk. "Do you have the pictures?"

"Sure, here they are," said Kitty, and she and Kurt gave the pictures to professor Xavier while they carefully avoided looking at each other. Rogue noticed their awkwardness and raised an eyebrow. Kitty saw the look she gave them and frowned, so that Rogue looked away.

While Vingen explained the Vrogor technology to the others, neither Shadowcat nor Nightcrawler were paying attention, and the same question moved in both of their minds: **_What in the world just happened in there?_**

* * *

I know that this chapter was short, but I noticed that there wasn't much Kurtty, as I've promised you. So this chapter is simply a bit of romance.

Please review!

Idun


	10. Computer Animation

Hello again! I've been kind of busy lately, but here's another chapter of **Dimension 17**! The thing is, I know what I want to happen in the story, but I'm not sure how to write it in a good way. Since English isn't my first language, I don't know that many synonyms and stuff, you get my point.

I'd like for you to do me, and Sweden, a favour. It does not take long time. Please visit my profile to see what it is. Oh, and while you're there, please copy the bunny rabbit to your own profiles. He _really _wants world domination.

Xavier's plan might seem a bit OOC for him, I'm aware of that. I have to warn you, the last part of this chapter is a bit evil. Maybe the 'darkest' thing I've ever written.

**Telepathy**

_**Thinking**_

**Chapter 10: Computer Animation**

Professor Xavier took the pictures of Varok's family and scanned them into the computer. They all appeared on one of the big screens in the Bubble Vision studio. Meanwhile, Vingen searched the data base after files concerning Nightcrawler – the Vrogor kept information about every 'guest' that had been chosen from the different dimensions. Rogue had found some sort of camera, and they all took turns taking pictures of each other, where after Shadowcat plugged the camera into the computer and downloaded the pictures – just like a usual digital camera.

"Excuse me, professor," said Cyclops, "but why are we doing this? I'm sure you've got a good reason and that this is part of your brilliant plan, but an explanation wouldn't exactly be wrong."

"Well," started Xavier and pushed some buttons. "We've got to make Varok understand what he's doing to all these people that he's kidnapped. He doesn't think from different perspectives. We have to make him see everything from the victim's point of view."

"And just how, exactly, do you suggest we do that?" asked Wolverine.

Vingen raised a furry eyebrow – she thought that she knew what the professor was thinking. "That's why we have the pictures of his family, and the pictures of you, isn't it? If we can animate them so that they can move and 'interact' with each other, just like the Vodash animations, we can make Varok believe that you've got his family in your power…" Xavier nodded. Vingen continued: "… and that you're gonna, like, slay them or so if he doesn't stop this madness. Am I right?"

The professor smiled at her. "If I didn't know better, I'd say _you_ were a mind-reader, too."

Jean frowned. "But professor, we could never do that!"

"Yeah, that's not our style at all," Scott agreed. "We don't hurt innocent people… even if they're the relatives of a paranoid madman."

"You're perfectly right," Xavier said. "We're not that evil – but _he_ doesn't know that, now does he? After all, he saw when we defeated the Vodash. He knows that we aren't, well, 'normal', and that we are able to fight extremely well. As far as he knows, we could be cruel assassins who are more than willing to avenge the kidnapping of one of our own."

The X-Men had to admit that Xavier had a point.

* * *

"How long have they been in that freaky place?" Evan had been pacing back and forth for at least 20 minutes.

Forge looked at the clock on the wall. "They've got one hour and 40 minutes left before they have to be back in the arena."

"What if they aren't back by then?"

"They'll be stuck in that dimension," sighed the brainy mutant. "They'd have to come up with some idea of their own to get back."

"Man, this SUCKS!" Evan kicked a chair and grimaced at the pain.

"I know, but there is not much we can do about it," Storm said patiently. "Are you sure that you don't want a cup of coffee to help you relax? Or a coke? Maybe a cinnamon bun?"

"How can you even THINK about eating in a situation like this!" Spyke exclaimed. "They could be killed even as we speak, and you're drinking coffee? So damn insensitive!" Usually, he never would have spoken to his aunt like that, but now he was upset and worried (it was a wonder he hadn't lost control of his powers and trashed the whole dining room with spikes). Storm was too, but she was more skilled in controlling her feelings.

"As I told you, there is nothing we can do to help the others, and a cup of coffee calms down my nerves. I don't hurt anyone by drinking it. Nothing gets better by you pacing and kicking the furniture, Evan."

Her nephew glared and uttered a growl that would've made Wolverine proud.

* * *

Since neither Kurt, Rogue, Logan, Scott nor Jean were very skilled when it came to computers, they had nothing that kept them occupied from getting lost in their (often negative) thoughts. Although their thoughts were slightly different…

**_Damn fluffy monsters. _**Wolverine gritted his teeth. **_When I get my hands on that Varok guy… Why won't Charles let me kill him?_**

**_I seriously doubt that we'll get out of here without injuries. _**As usual, Rogue was 'optimistic'. **_Man, this place sucks. If it wasn't for those freaky creatures, I could've been home by now… Even a three-hour training session with Logan is better than this._**

Scott, on the other hand, felt kind of relieved after getting away from the labyrinth. **_As long as we don't have to enter any creepy tunnels, it's fine with me. I've been through worse than this. For example, I almost got killed by Mystique several months ago, when she pushed me into that river… _**(AN: See 'Turn of the Rogue')

Kurt still felt confused since after he Kitty came back from Varok's office. **_If ve hadn't been interrupted, ve vould've kissed, vouldn't ve? I zink so. I vonder how it vould've felt? I really must speak to her about all zis. To clear my zoughts, if nozzing else…_**

**_Aren't they finished soon? _**Jean bit her lip. **_We could get discovered any minute now!_**

"Okay everyone, may I have your attention please?" They all turned to Xavier. He gestured towards one of the big computer screens. "Watch this. It's what we're going to show to Varok."

Vingen pressed a button, and the professor showed up on the screen. He looked straight into the camera:

"_Greetings, Varok, Lord of the Vrogor. I am Professor Xavier from Dimension 1. Several days ago, you let your people abduct one of my students – Nightcrawler – to practically send him to his death. I cannot allow that to happen, which is why I decided to bring some of my friends and come to his rescue. After hearing the story of this place, I want to talk business with you."_

The screen now showed Wolverine, the claws on his right hand exposed. In his left hand, he had a steady grip on one of the Vrogor kids from the pictures. He held a strange face expression – some mix between a smirk and a glare.

Xavier's voice was heard in a voice-over. _"You saw what happened to the Vodash when it messed with one of us. We are ready to take a more… _personal _revenge against the one who chose Nightcrawler to get 'tested'… namely you. _And _your family."_

The screen kept showing different pictures while the professor continued with his little monologue.

Kitty and Rogue, holding purple guns which they pointed to a couple of scared Vrogor children.

"_However, we are willing to offer you a deal."_

Kurt, sitting on a metal beam under the ceiling, holding a Vrogor kid in his tail. He was slowly swinging it back and forth. His yellow eyes glittered.

"_If you leave your position as a Lord, and give us your word of honour that you never will hurt another innocent being again…"_

Jean using her powers to levitate one of the kids, and Scott preparing to take off his glasses.

"… _We will return to our world, and leave your family alone."_

Professor Xavier showed up on the screen again. _"You have 20 minutes to think. I do hope that we can reach an agreement that will satisfy both parties. We'll talk again."_

The screen went black.

No one in the room – not even Logan – looked very happy after seeing the 'movie'. In fact, they felt a bit sick. It was hard to read Xavier's expression, though.

Jean spoke up first. "That was awful."

"You don't say?" Rogue said with a shivering voice. "Geez, I feel like a murderer… even though nothing really happened."

"That movie will give me nightmares for _years,_" Scott said. "It was terrible."

"I know it was, and I am sorry for that." Xavier actually sounded a bit apologizing. "But the thing is, I think it might work."

* * *

Wow, I almost get a little sick myself while reading that last paragraph… It might be the cruelest thing I've ever written. I'm not that evil for real, I promise!

Please take the time to review.

Idun


	11. Some serious business

I apologize for the long delay. I've been quite busy with school – university sucks sometimes – but I guess that apology isn't good enough. I've been working more on my current TMNT fic than with this one, I admit that. I guess it is because I ain't that much into X-Men Evolution anymore. I never meant to abandon this story, though!

**Telepathy**

_**Thinking**_

**Chapter 11: Some serious business**

With a little help from Vingen, the X-Men sent the horrifying movie to the conference room in which Varok and his council had a meeting.

"It should appear on BV in there in a couple of minutes," explained Vingen.

"Is there no way for us to watch what happens in that room?" Logan asked. "I'd like to see Varok's reaction to the movie."

Vingen tilted her head to the side. "Well, there _are_ security cameras in there, but because of the fact that many top secret meetings are held in that room, you need a code to activate those cameras."

"And you don't know that code?"

"Not anymore," Vingen started. "I used to –" Suddenly, she seemed to catch herself and stopped abruptly.

Seven people raised seven eyebrows.

"You used to what?" Scott asked.

"What did you mean by 'not anymore'?" Kitty wondered. "You mean that you, like, _have_ known that code before?"

"I – I don't know what you're talking about," Vingen stuttered.

Needless to say, none of the mutants believed her.

Jean was on her way to put her fingertip against her temple and read their new friend's mind, but a sharp reprimand from Xavier stopped her. **No, Jean. If Vingen wishes to keep her secret for herself, she has a right to do so. She may decide to tell us later, or she may not. Either way, you should leave her private life alone. **

Jean lowered her head in shame. **I am sorry, professor. **

"I could try to hack through their security system," Vingen offered with a nervous smile.

Professor Xavier nodded. "Please do so. I will help you."

"I will too," Kitty said. "If you, like, want my help, that is."

"Sure."

With Vingen, Xavier and Kitty working together, it didn't take long before the biggest computer screen flashed and a picture appeared. The X-Men and their new friend watched an image of a large oval table with about 12 or 13 Vrogor around it. Varok sat in a big grey chair on one of the short ends. One of the Vrogor spoke up.

"But lord Varok, what shall we do? If these people defeated the Vodash without –"

He was interrupted by a certain bubble that appeared above the table. The X-Men gritted their teeth when they heard Xavier's voice: "_Greetings, Varok, Lord of the Vrogor. I am Professor Xavier from Dimension 1. Several days ago, you let your people abduct one of my students – Nightcrawler – to practically send him to his death. I cannot allow that to happen, which is why I decided to bring some of my friends and come to his rescue. After hearing the story of this place, I want to talk business with you."_

At first, Varok only looked surprised. But when the 'disturbing' images appeared in the BV, his yellow eyes widened and he gaped.

"_You saw what happened to the Vodash when it messed with one of us. We are ready to take a more… _personal _revenge against the one who chose Nightcrawler to get 'tested'… namely you. _And _your family. However, we are willing to offer you a deal."_

Varok started to hyperventilate, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"_If you leave your position as a Lord, and give us your word of honour that you never will hurt another innocent being again, we will return to our world, and leave your family alone."_

Now, big, wet tears rolled down from the lord's eyes. Kurt actually started to feel sorry for him. He wasn't the only one.

"Please, professor, turn it off! This is too much!" Kitty cried. Xavier frowned, clearly he didn't like it either, but he didn't turn off the BV.

"_You have 20 minutes to think. I do hope that we can reach an agreement that will satisfy both parties. We'll talk again."_

The bubble vanished. For a short moment, Varok stared at the spot where it had been. His council looked at him nervously; they didn't really know how to react.

Suddenly, their lord rose so quickly that his chair fell over. He looked slightly hysterical. "Where are they? Where are my family? I must get to them, I must make sure that they're alright, _where are they?"_

Several of the X-Men bit their lips.

"And where are those mutants?" Varok ranted. "How am I supposed to talk to them if I don't know where they are?"

Professor Xavier put a finger to his temple. **Lord Varok,** **you can find us in the security room, corridor 12 B. Just don't try to attack us. You know why.**

It certainly was interesting to watch Varok's reaction to hearing a voice out of nowhere all of a sudden. At first, he whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice, but of course he didn't succeed. "What…?"

**It is Professor Xavier talking. I am telepathic. My voice exists only in your head.**

The lord frowned. Then he shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind. "We got to go!" he called out to his council and a couple of guards. "We've got some serious business to take care of."

They all left the conference room, and the mutants and Vingen found themselves looking at an empty screen.

"So, now they're on their way here," Jean said.

"Yeah. What're we gonna say when they arrive?" Logan asked the professor.

"Let me take care of that."

It didn't take long before Varok and his escort burst in. Varok stared hard at Xavier. "Where are my family?" he hissed. "I want them back."

"You'll get them back. First, we must talk."

Varok sighed. "What?"

"You heard me on the BV. Abandon your post as the Lord of the Vrogor, and leave the power to Vingen instead."

Silence.

Then, several voices were heard at the same time. _"What?"_

"You never said anything about _me_ being the ruler!" Vingen exclaimed.

"You mean… that Vingen should have the power?" Varok gasped. "_Vingen? _But she's a traitor to the country!"

That was some news for the X-Men.

"She was a member of the council," Varok continued, "but one night she helped some of the 'guests' to sneak out and sent them home, so that they couldn't be tested! Of course, she got kicked out of the council. She was doomed to death for her crimes, but was spared in the last second. She can _not_ lead the Vrogor."

**_That must be Vingen's secret, _**the mutants thought. **_The one she didn't want to tell us. _**

Professor Xavier didn't seem very surprised. In fact, he looked quite unmoved. "That is an excellent reason to why she _should_ rule the country. Vingen has conscience, fairness, goodness and mercy. She will become a great leader of the Vrogor."

Vingen started to warm up to the idea. She still seemed a bit doubtful, but not at all as much as before. Varok, on the other hand, frowned, and was on his way to say something, but stopped himself. He sighed. "I'll do it. But _only_ because of my family."

"Can we trust you?"

Varok looked offended. "Of course you can. There is much one can say about me, but I always keep to my word."

Professor Xavier looked him deep in the eyes. After a while, he slowly nodded. "Then we take everyone in here as witness that Varok, the Lord of the Vrogor – or maybe I should say the _former_ Lord of the Vrogor – has decided to leave the power to Vingen."

The tension in the room was so thick that you could cut it with one of Wolverine's claws. Everyone felt that they just had seen somethingBig happen.

Suddenly they all jumped, when Rogue said: "Um, guys? We only have 55 minutes left before the bus leaves for home."

"I'll show you the way," Vingen said. She led the X-Men out of the security room.

"Wait!" Varok called out. "What about my family?"

Xavier threw him a look over his shoulder. "Oh, them? They are not here. They never were."

"But…"

"It was a bluff. Never heard about computer animation before?"

They left the former leader open-mouthed.

* * *

50 minutes later – the mutants had been running around in circles in the labyrinth, and succeeded in getting far, far away from the arena, so it took some time to get back – they finally were back in the big area where they had fought the Vodash.

"So… I don't really know what to say," Vingen shrugged. "You really have made a difference here. Everything will change now."

"Eh, ve only did vhat ve do best," Nightcrawler smiled. "Helping people."

"So, are you going to become the Lady of the Vrogor now?" Jean asked.

"Nah," Vingen said slowly. "I think we've had enough of lords and ladies. I was thinking of taking the title of 'stewardess'. How does that sound?"

"It sounds great," Scott said.

"But I'm still not sure about the whole thing. What if I screw everything up?"

"You won't," Logan said and put a hand on her hairy shoulder.

"He's right. You will make a wonderful job, I can assure you," Xavier smiled.

In the same second, purple sparks surrounded them. Vingen hurried to step away. She waved. "Good bye! Thank you for everything!"

"Good luck!" the X-Men called back.

Then, they were gone.

* * *

That's not all, folks, there's an epilogue too! I hope to have it up in a couple of days!

Idun


	12. Epilogue

So, here's the (very short) epilogue! Enjoy!

**Telepathy**

_**Thinking**_

**Epilogue**

It had been three days since professor Xavier, Logan, Jean, Scott, Rogue, Kitty and Kurt had returned from Dimension 17. Kitty and Kurt still hadn't talked about what had happened under Varok's desk. Now, Kitty stood at the pool, looking at her blue-haired friend who sat close to the edge of the cliff, facing the ocean. She took a deep breath and came up to him.

"Kurt?"

He jumped. "Oh, hi Keety! I didn't hear you."

"May I sit down?"

"Yes, of course."

She sat down beside him. For a moment, there was an uncomfortable silence. Then, they both started talking at the same time.

"So…"

"I…"

They cut off.

"Say vhat you vere going to say."

"No, you start."

"No, you."

Kitty sighed. This wouldn't be easy. "I, like, wanted to talk about what happened… back there."

A lot of stuff had happened 'back there', but still, Kurt knew what she meant in an instant. "Oh… zhat."

"Yeah, that. So… what was it?"

"I… don't know."

"I… kind of… liked it."

"You did?"

"Yes." **_Oh no, oh no, oh no! Now he hates me!_**

Kurt gulped. "I liked it too."

Kitty's eyes widened. She slowly turned against him and met his eyes.

Kurt licked his suddenly very dry lips. "So, it seems like ve both liked it."

"Yeah…"

"So…"

"Um…"

No more needed to be said. The two mutants looked deeply into each other's eyes, where after they shut them and got closer and closer…

And when their lips met, both felt that they'd never been happier.

**0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0**

On another edge of another cliff, far, far away, a purple, hairy creature sat and looked down at the country she ruled. Lilac snow flakes silently fell from the purple clouds in the sky and whirled around in the air, before they finally reached the valley far below her.

Vingen rested her chin in her hand. Dimension 17 wasn't at all the same place as it had been before the strange people from Dimension 1 came. She would really try to lead the Vrogor into a new Era, one that wasn't characterized by terror and fear. She didn't know if she would succeed, but she would do her best. Silently, she breathed out a "thank you" to their saviours from another world.

**0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 **

Professor Xavier smiled.

"You're welcome."

**THE END**

* * *

So, that's it. Kind of sad actually. Even though you always feel satisfied when you've finished a story, you still miss it in some strange way. But then you get caught up in another story… If you enjoyed **Dimension 17**, and are a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as X-Men Evolution, you should keep your eyes open for a new fic that I'll start some time this summer. It won't be a crossover, but I'll use Dimension 17 (the place that is, not the story) again! I'm quite fond of it and have more plans for it, so I couldn't just let it go, now could I? 

I would like to thank you all for reading, and especially those who have reviewed! I never could have finished this story without you. Please leave one last review and tell me your opinions. They make me a better writer.

Yours truly,

Idun


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